10/07/2025
OSU! 👊🏻💜😉
From Sensei Marie P. Anderson - Mother Agent:
"Would you rather do it and know that you at least tried, regardless of the outcome, or regret not trying at all?" —Shihan Eddie Yoshimura,
President of the U.S. Shidokan Association
Shihan Eddie gave me that reply when I decided not to enter an essential international karate competition because I didn’t feel ready to compete. Trusting his faith in me, I accepted his challenge—and ended up winning the event with a massive trophy. I was even written up in Black Belt Magazine because of it.
Shihan Eddie’s philosophy has since pulled me through many years of additional challenges in all areas of my life—sometimes I win, and sometimes I pay dearly for great lessons. Above all, I continue to try, regardless of the fear of losing.
I have always loved competing in sports. Boxing was a favorite, and martial arts was a natural transition. However, I’m known more for my passion and dedication to keep trying than for being a gifted athlete. Initially, my journey with martial arts was fueled by a desire to feel less like a victim of my tumultuous life experiences—both professional and personal. However, the lessons I learned in martial arts training were profoundly empowering and changed my life in countless ways.
At my favorite dojo, Chicago Fitness Center, Shihan Eddie continually reminds us that it is critical to pass on what has been taught to us. It is with great pride that I do so at every opportunity—especially through my work, speaking engagements, and private coaching. While I’ve taught martial arts and competed in tournaments for years, it was my students in wheelchairs who truly taught me about the warrior spirit.
I hold numerous belt rankings in various martial arts disciplines, and my personal favorite is Japanese Shidokan Karate (where I am now a second-degree black belt). My love for it led me to pursue a black belt with Grandmaster Kancho Yoshiji Soeno in Japan in April 2003. I left for the event a day earlier than the rest of the group so that I could visit modeling agencies before the competition. The night after I arrived, I received word from Chicago that the rest of the Shidokan team was not coming because the deadly SARS virus had broken out in Japan.
I was given a Japanese phone number as a solution to plan my next steps in making it out to Tokorozawa, Japan, which was four hours away from my hotel in Tokyo. After six hours of misunderstanding, a six-year-old translator helped ease the confusion between my soon-to-be Shidokan hosts and me. It was suggested that I return to Chicago, but in my usual tenacity, I insisted on staying for the full ten days and continuing my first black belt journey despite the health warnings. I was alone, smartphones weren't available yet—without my support group—the only American and one of three females among 200 participants, all paying homage to our grandmaster. Those ten days were both terrifying and exhilarating—a priceless adventure for which I am deeply grateful.
